Daughter
Chapter 24 – Eaten Alive
Gracie had a problem on her hands. SG-3 was willing to accept her onto their team. On the surface, that shouldn't have been a bad thing. It made her birth parents very proud. It seemed to make the rest of SG-1 proud as well. Although she enjoyed that feeling of accomplishment, she felt like this opportunity might get in the way of other things she had been meaning to achieve.
Becoming a better trained Hak'tyl was one thing.
Seeing Jasuf was the other.
If she traipsed around the galaxy with SG-3 (who let's face it, she was very fond of), then she would be left with very little time to spend on Tek'ron. She couldn't exactly go to the Jaffa planet instead of Earth every night. The work she was about to do would require her to be ready to leave with SG-3 at a moment's notice, at all hours of the day. They needed time to get briefed, gear up appropriately, and then leave together. Her home base would need to be the same as her teammates. It just wouldn't make sense otherwise.
She grumbled as she swirled oatmeal around in a bowl in the commissary.
"You know, for someone who's got a new job on the horizon, you don't look very excited."
Gracie jumped a little in her seat. She hadn't even seen Daniel slip into the chair across from her. Oh no. I'm losing it. Maybe she really did need to go everywhere with SG-3, if only to keep her skills from wasting away. She grit her teeth in frustration with herself and looked up at Daniel.
He seemed to be waiting patiently for her to speak.
"Hi."
"You wanna talk about it?" Daniel asked gently.
"About what?"
"About why you've been sitting there with cold oatmeal for a good half hour?"
She blinked at him. "What if it was never warm in the first place?" she tried.
"Not buying it."
Gracie deflated. She was absolutely not going to tell him anything. "I'm fine, Daniel."
"Still not buying it."
Her mouth opened and closed in exasperation. "Why would one have to purchase my excuses? I really don't understand that idiom. Phrase. Saying. Whatever it is."
He quirked a smile. He could easily go into an explanation that defined the terms she used and their etymologies, but Daniel knew better. "So you admit it. You do have excuses."
Gracie grumbled more. She hadn't been prepared to fend off an interrogation this morning. She hadn't been prepared to do anything, really. She'd been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realize she was sitting here for as long as Daniel said. "There's nothing to talk about."
"You're a Mal Doran. I'm sure you could lie better than that."
She pointed lasers at him with her eyes in annoyance. "Well if you're such an expert, what's my problem, then? Hmm?" she challenged.
Daniel sat back in the chair and crossed him arms, considering her. "I have a few guesses. But it wouldn't be smart on my part to voice them aloud. You could easily just pick one and pretend that's it, thinking I'd go away and leave you alone."
Her mouth dropped open. No wonder her mother was in love with him.
He was a genius.
Gracie let out a breath. How to win this? Her mouth twisted as she tried to think of a way to make him go away. She knew none of her usual tricks would work. Insults. Distractions. Seduction… eww. Something about being on Earth made them all less effective. Damn her home planet.
Daniel watched her face contort as she tried to think. It amused him when he caught glimpses of Vala's expressions in her. She was like her little 'mini-me.' A gun-wielding, ass-kicking mini-me with blonde hair. Then it dawned on him. Maybe he wasn't the right person to conduct this interrogation, which is what this conversation was turning into. And here he thought he was simply going to be supportive.
"I'll let you off the hook for now," Daniel announced, interrupting her futile attempts to think her way around speaking to him. Gracie donned a confused look. "That means I will leave you alone for the moment. But don't think for a second I'm not following up," he said.
She scrunched her face at him. "What are you? My father?"
"Well… since he's not here…" He shrugged with a playful smile.
"Daniel," Gracie said with warning.
He held up two hands. He got up and left.
He found Carolyn sitting in her office just off the main infirmary. She looked up in surprise when he stepped in, closed the door, and took a seat.
She let her paperwork drop to her desk. Carolyn smiled sweetly at him, completely annoyed that he didn't bother to knock.
Daniel didn't care.
"What can I do for you?" she asked, making it clear with her tone that he was interrupting her.
"It's about Gracie." He grinned. "The bigger one."
"What about her?"
"She's hiding something."
Carolyn blinked rapidly at him, already guessing why he was here. "Daniel," she started.
"You're the best person for the job."
"I am a doctor, not an inquisitor."
"Nonsense. Asking questions is what your job's all about," Daniel argued.
Carolyn grit her teeth, mustering patience. "Here's a question for you, then. Do they teach How to Be Annoying 101 in archaeology school?" She batted her eyelashes as she said it.
He laughed. Then he completely ignored her dig. "She should be happy with the chance she's being given. And yet, ever since Reynolds made his decision, she's been moping around here like it's not the most coveted position anyone on this base could ever gun for."
"Maybe she doesn't realize the significance of the opportunity."
"Oh I think she does. But something's holding her back."
Carolyn stared at him. Her previous private conversations with Gracie came to mind. The last time she'd come back from Tek'ron, she had a huge smile on her face. She guessed progress was being made with that Jaffa boy. That was right before Reynolds had begun to evaluate her as a possible candidate for his team.
Daniel didn't miss her brief pause. He pointed an accusing finger at the doctor. "Oh my God. You know something."
She narrowed her eyes at him. He beamed at her, proud for even detecting it at all. If Carolyn could be any more irritated with him right now, she would be.
"Get out of my office, Daniel."
He pouted a bit, but the smile never really left his face. He got up. "Sorry, Carolyn. I'll leave you to it."
The next office he visited was Cameron's.
"They know things, those two," he told him conspiratorially.
Cameron just stared up at him from his seat behind the desk. A stack of paperwork was before him. "Don't you have… artifacts… and old, ancient-y things… to gawk at?"
Daniel ignored his question. "Cam, we gotta figure out what's going on."
His friend let out a breath. "I am so not getting involved in this."
"She's your girlfriend. You could find out what she knows."
Cam looked at him dubiously.
"I mean, come on. Gracie finally found something to do. A purpose. We're all happier for her than she is for herself! Something is up."
"Jackson, maybe she has a good reason and isn't ready to share with the class. Don't you think that would be more up McKenzie's alley than any of us anyway?" Then Cam thought to add, "And wouldn't that be confidential if that's the case?"
Daniel frowned. He sighed. "Okay."
Cameron's eyes flitted to the door as it opened. Reynolds and another Colonel were walking into their shared office. "Go. Get on. Git." He flapped a hand at him.
"Alright, alright." Daniel waved a polite hello toward the other personnel and left.
Reynolds spoke as he settled into the desk nearby. "What did he want?"
"Oh, he was just being the world's foremost expert on acting like a pain in the ass," Cameron said drily.
"Really? Thought that was Vala's job."
Mitchell grunted. "You'd think. But I think he showed her the ropes."
"So there's hope for me, huh?" Reynolds asked, quirking a smile.
"Elda ain't Jackson. You're gonna be fine."
"At some point, you might actually need to tell someone else about him," Carolyn warned.
"What? No." Gracie dropped the box of files onto the floor of the doctor's office. She was helping out in the infirmary for a few hours to pass the time.
Carolyn stopped her before she could go get the other box from elsewhere in the infirmary. She closed the door, placing her body in front of it to block Gracie's path. "Yes. Daniel's being a pain in the ass asking questions. If you just fess up and let people know you're seeing someone, maybe it will make them less suspicious."
Gracie put her hands on her hips and frowned. "I am not telling him about Jasuf. No way! He's already acting like he thinks he could stand in for my father. The last thing I want is for him to get all overprotective and that other nonsense."
"What about Teal'c then?"
"Huh?"
"Teal'c knows who he is, right? You said they met?"
"Yeah."
"Well, Teal'c is pretty good at keeping quiet when he needs to be. I mean, he won't tell anyone what happened to SG-1 and my own father on the Odyssey. I'm pretty sure he could run interference for you with Daniel. Probably much better than I could." She narrowed her eyes. "I shouldn't even be involved in his shenanigans in the first place," she added, looking exasperated.
Gracie paused to think. She knew what Carolyn was talking about with the Odyssey. That time dilation incident had been thoroughly explained to her by her birth mother. She only half-understood it but got the gist of its significance.
"Teal'c, huh?"
Carolyn cocked her head to the side. "He's already dating Ishta. He visits her as much as he can…"
Gracie dropped her mouth open. "Carolyn! You're brilliant!" She started hopping in place excitedly. "I could tag along with Teal'c." She bit her lip, smiling over the possibilities. Her eyes flitted back up to the doctor. "Then I could see Jasuf."
Now the doctor became hesitant. That wasn't the intent of her suggestion. "Well… I was just trying to say you could confide in Teal'c, not…"
But Gracie squealed excitedly. She started clapping her hands lightly. Her eyes adopted a dreamy look. "I'll go talk to him right now!"
She pulled Carolyn into a hug, which also served to move her away from the door. Then she rushed out, leaving a flabbergasted doctor watching her go. Carolyn looked down at the box on the floor. It was missing its pair. She sighed. Then she yelled out the door for one of her staff members to go get the other box.
Gracie found Teal'c on the level of the SGC reserved for exercise and training. He was already sparring with Mitchell. Neither of them acknowledged her when she stepped into the room. She stood back against the wall as the pair parried with wooden staffs. They were very much in the moment, so she slid down to sit on the floor and wait.
She watched as Cameron demonstrated more proficiency in Jaffa bashaak than she'd realized he ever had. She wondered where he had learned it. And how he found the time as a member of an SG-team to keep up with it. Maybe he could give her some advice on how to manage her time and maintain her own training.
The sparring match ended when Mitchell ended up flat on his back, chest heaving. He hooted with a smile on his face. "Hoo boy, that was a good one, Big Guy." Teal'c reach down to offer him an arm to stand. Mitchell accepted it and got up. Gracie threw him the towel that was next to her. "Thanks," the Colonel said between breaths. As he wiped the sweat off his brow, he wondered, "When'd you get here?"
"You did not observe her entry?" Teal'c asked.
"No. No, I didn't." He gestured toward Gracie. "She's like a ninja or something."
She smiled up at him from her seat on the floor. "A what?"
"Ehhh, easier to show you. I'll send you a couple movie titles to check out," Mitchell declared. Gracie nodded. "So… you here to spar?"
"Not today. But I am curious about how you learned to do all that."
His eyes crinkled as he grinned. "The Sodan," he said proudly.
Gracie's mouth opened in surprise. "Wow. I thought they were a myth. How did you meet them?"
Cameron chuckled as he bent down to gather his things along the wall. "Oh… it was sort of an accident. Long story. Suffice it to say, it was definitely an experience. Of the life-changing variety."
"ColonelMitchell possesses great potential in their artistry." Teal'c didn't look hardly as sweaty or tired as Mitchell did.
Gracie looked back and forth between them. "Are they… still around?"
The two men glanced at each other. "The tribe that I got to know," Mitchell explained forlornly, "isn't." Gracie sensed that this might be a sensitive topic for him. "But the big guy here thinks there might be other pockets of Sodan hiding somewhere that we just haven't met yet."
Teal'c inclined his head. "The Sodan only make themselves known when it is needed."
"So for now, you just keep up with practice here?" Gracie asked. Mitchell nodded. "You think that's what I'm going to have to do when I join SG-3?"
"You can if you want to. But I bet you'd be better off training with the Hak'tyl over either of us."
"Well, that's the thing. I want to. But I just don't know how I'll find the time."
Mitchell crouched down to her level on the floor. "Is that what's been bugging you?"
Gracie shrugged innocently.
"You know what, just talk to Reynolds. Maybe you guys can work something out. He knows you have skills to maintain. Won't do him any good out in the field if he can't give you the time to keep 'em sharp. I'm pretty sure he'll understand."
"ColonelReynolds is reasonable. He will listen to your concerns."
She smiled. "That's reassuring to hear. Okay, I'll talk to him when he gets back."
"And besides," Mitchell went on, "you still have training to do. They're not adding you onto their roster immediately. You still gotta learn how they do things." He stood straight up, stretching out his legs.
She frowned and got up as well. "Are you saying all that stuff they had me do on the training grounds didn't count?"
"It got you the job, but didn't qualify you completely for all the missions yet."
"What!?"
"Darlin', go talk to Reynolds. He'll clarify all the expectations and the timing of everything. That's why I'm saying, you probably have a decent chance of going back to the Hak'tyl before you get bogged down with SG-3 mischief."
"How long is it going to take?"
"That I don't know. They've got this super-secret spy mission scheduled to start up soon. You won't be on it. It'll be a long op."
"They're leaving without me?"
"This one's been on the books for a while. It's already planned out and everything. Don't worry. There will be plenty of other fun missions after they complete that one." He leaned in. "Count yourself lucky you're not going on this mission."
She pouted with a scrunched up face. "Fine. When is Reynolds supposed to be back on base anyway?"
"Ehh, sounds like it'll be another couple of days. He's got stuff to take care of at home. Tryin' to get it all done before he leaves again."
"How does his wife handle him being gone all the time?" she wondered curiously.
Mitchell cringed. "I don't know." He shook his head. "Don't know how any of the spouses handle it, really." He exchanged a look with Teal'c. "Glad my girl works here. She understands."
"She's just as busy as anyone here," Gracie commented.
"Yep. Well, I'm gonna hit the showers. See ya 'round." Cameron left the pair behind.
Gracie looked to Teal'c. "When are you next visiting Ishta?"
He smiled. "I intend to depart tomorrow. Would you like to join me?"
She grinned. "Yes, please!" She bounced on her heels.
"I presume you will seek out Jasuf."
Gracie's eyes widened and her bouncing stilled. "Umm… why does one presume that?"
"Do you not have a courtship with him?"
"A wha… I don't even know what to call it! How do you know?" she asked suspiciously. She gestured to herself. "I barely know!"
Teal'c smiled softly at her, amusement shining in his eyes. "You have been daydreaming often."
Her eyes darted from side to side. "Have I?"
"Both CorporalSmith and CorporalCrawford have drawn attention to it numerous times."
"Those idiots," she grumbled, looking away with annoyance.
"Are they not your friends?"
"Yes, Teal'c. They are. I say that with affection. Aggravated affection."
He tilted his head to one side. "It is similar between DanielJackson and ColonelMitchell."
Gracie laughed aloud. "I agree. I've seen it. In two timelines!" she said, holding up the appropriate number of fingers to match. She continued to laugh as she followed Teal'c out of the training room.
"Do you confirm that there is something between you and Jasuf?"
She let out a breath as she looked up at him. "Maybe," she admitted while they walked. "I actually came here to talk with you about it. But apparently you already know!"
He donned a smile of quiet hilarity. "Ishta recently informed me of your experience during Exhibition."
She gasped. "Which one?"
"The second one you participated in."
Her mouth dropped open. "Does everyone know?" she squeaked.
Teal'c paused outside of the men's locker room and made eye contact with her. "I imagine everyone on Tek'ron knows."
Color drained from her face. How do Jaffa do that!
Gracie dropped her voice to a whisper and placed two hands on one of his muscled forearms. "Teal'c, please don't say anything to anyone here about Jasuf. I'm not ready. I think I'll die."
He bowed in agreement. "You exaggerate, but I will comply with your request. It is your news to share as you please. If it will not interfere with your upcoming duties, then there is no need for it to be known… if that is your wish."
She sighed. "Thank you." She stared up at him with a pout. "Still don't know how Jaffa do what they do. You people figure out everything," she complained.
Teal'c beamed with pride.
Gracie stopped short in the hallway at the sight of her birth mother. Her face slowly drew into a smile. "Sam?"
The older blonde scrunched her shoulders and grinned back. Her dimples flashed with her apparent joy. She held out her arms to receive her daughter.
Gracie hugged her fiercely. "What are you doing here?"
"New orders. I'm supposed to study that little shuttle you brought back. Command is eager to know if we can reverse-engineer it and make new puddle jumpers."
"Puddle jumpers?"
Sam raised a hand in the air and waved it around as she spoke. "You know. The puddle that makes up the event horizon of a wormhole? Little ship that just jumps right on through?"
Gracie tilted her head in confusion. "Who came up with that term?"
Her mother chuckled. "I think it was Sheppard. He's the ranking military officer back on Atlantis."
"Oh. Have you mentioned him before? I only remember hearing about Rodney."
Sam frowned slightly, looking side-to-side. "I must have talked about Sheppard. At least once or twice."
"Hmm, not sure I recall." Gracie didn't fail to notice her mother's consternation. She suspected that Sam liked Rodney a lot more than she wanted to admit. It amused her. "Anyway, have you seen the ship yet?"
"I have not," Sam said with anticipation.
Gracie hooked an arm around hers. "Well… what are we waiting for!"
She led her birth mother up to the level of the mountain where they were keeping the ship. A section of the old missile silo had been previously designated for a Lantian puddle jumper. It was the perfect spot to keep Gracie's shuttle while not in use. She couldn't fly it straight up through the top of the silo. She had orders not to take her ship for joy-rides around the Earth. Her father said something about the FAA bursting an aneurysm over it, whatever that meant.
Gracie took a card reader out of her uniform pocket and slipped it into the designated spot by the door. Sam nodded proudly at her, impressed. She had obviously been granted privileges around the base.
The heavy door slid open. The floor beyond was a sturdy metal grate. Beneath it were structures that housed modified tunneling crystals, courtesy of the Tok'ra. Upon arrival through the stargate, her small ship would steadily rise up the missile silo until it reached this level. Then the crystals would activate, instantaneously forming a deck from one side of the silo to the other. The process was carefully controlled and monitored. Once a floor was laid, Gracie could gently set the ship down.
Gracie put a fail-safe in place, in case the deck accidentally dissipated. To prevent anyone below from being crushed by an unexpectedly falling ship, she programmed her vessel to automatically hover if it lost contact with the deck. That meant that it had to remain in a constant state of readiness, consistently drawing a small amount of power at all times while inside the SGC. However, the safety of anyone in the gate room below was well worth the sacrifice of fuel.
If she wanted to leave, she'd make the vessel hover on its own power. Then someone would command the crystals to release their molecular bonds and disperse into the air. Jet-like fans would pull the resulting debris and gasses out of the immediate area like vacuums.
The process of bringing the ship in and out of the base required a careful amount of coordination between the pilot and the control room. General Landry, himself, enjoyed the spectacle of it all so much, that he allowed Gracie to come and go with her little ship as much as she pleased. His only condition was that she time it while he was on duty. She'd taken to waving at him through her forward port while her ship slowly maneuvered within the silo. Whether he was in the briefing room or in the control room, he always enjoyed watching her pilot her little vessel.
"Wow," Sam intoned as she stared straight across at her daughter's ship. "This is it, huh?"
Gracie bounced in place next to her. She grabbed her mother's hand and pulled her through the open hatch. Sam stared about, taking it all in. On one end was the forward port and the pilot's console. Two chairs were available there, bolted into the deck, allowing for the ship to be manned by co-pilots as needed. Centered before it was a storage console as tall as a table. There was plenty of room to get around it. Sam suspected that in zero gravity, having something to grab onto like that was useful.
On her other side were bench seats lined up along the walls. She counted enough harnesses for eight passengers. At the far end of the ship was an empty compartment. Heavy straps hung from the walls with hooks on their ends, likely used to secure cargo for transport. They were kept behind clips in the wall so they didn't go flying about when not in use.
Her daughter pulled her toward the pilot's console. "Come see!" Gracie gestured for Sam to take the seat to the left. She pressed a control to activate the heads-up display. A virtual screen appeared in front of Sam. "On this side, we've got co-pilot navigation, DHD control, and open slots for optional add-ons."
"Optional add-ons?" Sam poked at the HUD, cycling through menus in Goa'uld writing.
"This is a modular design. Zersha makes these things easy to customize as per their buyer's preferences. If we want weapons, we could add on a weapons array. If we want a gravity-pack, we could pay for that, too."
"What about… a cloak?" Sam thought of Jack's curious question before.
"Hmm. I don't know if Zersha does that. We never had that feature installed on our ship."
"We, who?"
"Me and Vala. From my timeline."
"You've had this ship before?"
"Not this exact vessel, but yes, something quite similar. That's why I already know how to pilot this thing. It's the precursor to the one I learned on."
"Holy Hannah," Sam muttered. She glanced at Gracie then back to the virtual screen. "So you said it's modular," she reiterated.
"Right. Build it up as you please with any Zersha-compatible tech. And you've got yourself a custom vessel."
Sam's eyes sparkled at all the possibilities this was presenting. If she could get her hands on the blueprints for Zersha technology, she could use it to transfigure other advantageous features that the SGC was already using. Like a plug and play. Then if they could find a way to manufacture these small ships en masse, every SG-team could be given one to use. It would significantly increase their odds of making it back alive and expand the possibilities for their missions.
Maybe Earth could be less dependent on others for tel'taks when they needed them. Sam could easily name a handful of missions where Vala was tasked with acquiring a little cargo ship. Another handful more were borrowed from the Jaffa or the Tok'ra. None of the ships were ever in pristine condition. As her husband might say, that old chestnut was getting a bit… old.
"Alright," Sam said, "what have you got over there?"
Gracie obliged her by activating her side of the console. "Basic flight control: hover, open the hatch, thrusters. Then over here, hyperspace window and drive controls. The auto-pilot is here… but I only really use it while I'm in hyperspace, like when I have passengers to talk to or cargo to better secure." Gracie imagined all the times when she and her adoptive mother had to hustle quickly into their shuttle with the stolen goods of the day. They didn't always have time to properly secure things before they had to hurriedly escape. They simply hoped their cargo wouldn't fly around unsecured and hit them in the backs of their heads as they flew.
Sam gawked at the controls. "This is amazing. Humans came up with this?"
"Err… I don't know. A human-controlled institution manufactures these. Not sure where they get their designs from. Why?"
"This is light years ahead of anything we've made on Earth. And I'm not talking about anything the SGC controls."
"You said you have tech from the Asgard?"
"Yup. They helped us make leaps and bounds with space-faring."
"But not everyone on Earth has access to your ships, right?"
"Unfortunately, no. Anything SGC-controlled is still strictly classified. We're working on slowly introducing new tech into the world market… but we have to fake them like they're new inventions."
"That absolutely baffles me."
"Believe me, it feels like I'm sinning every time I go to a conference and purposely introduce faults into otherwise perfectly good items."
Gracie tilted her head. "Sounds like you have stories."
"Ha. I do. But those will be for another time."
"Okay, what would you like to do now?"
Sam didn't hesitate. She quickly answered, "Take this thing for a joy ride."
Gracie slowly grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."
Her mother matched her smile of excitement. Jack was going to be so jealous.
"There you are," Gracie said with relief.
Jasuf froze. He hadn't been expecting to hear her voice behind him. It stood apart from the usual cacophony of his people going about their days outside. He quickly overcame his shock and whipped his head around.
He let out a satisfied breath as his eyes raked her in. She was wearing traditional Jaffa travel clothing. A leather vest hugged her figure, framed by a loose brown cape that swept back behind her shoulders. Her golden hair glistened in the mid-morning sun. The staff weapon she held at her side did the same. She looked perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Jasuf dropped the ropes he had been preparing and went to her immediately. He reached out and pulled her to him. Gracie smiled in his tight embrace. His mouth hovered near hers. "I did not know you would come today," he whispered gently. "But I am overjoyed that you have."
"Told you I'd find you," she said with laughter in her voice.
He'd been missing her for far too long. So much so, that his brothers had to yell at him to pay attention to tasks they were assigned to perform. Now he didn't care who saw. Didn't care who would whisper. Jasuf kissed her openly, pouring all of his longing into the act.
Gracie nearly dropped her staff. She wrapped her free hand around the back of his neck, both surprised and delighted at his reaction to her unexpected presence. His hands tightly gripped her waist, squeezing as if she might suddenly be whisked away from him.
The sounds of other Jaffa in the village reminded her to take a breath. Gracie pulled back ever so slightly to break the kiss. She kept her face near his, leaning in toward his hand when it caressed her cheek. "I should tell you. I'm only here for the day." She pouted briefly.
"Then we will savor these moments." Jasuf seemed to sigh, letting out a breath through his nose in disappointment. "But I am to depart for a hunt. My brothers are preparing to leave soon."
She reached up to run her thumb along his face. "I know you have your duties. I will not keep you from them. Will you have any time left later?"
"After this hunt I have no further obligations. I was planning to train… but I need not do it today." He leaned back to look at her better, taking in the color of her eyes and the smoothness of her radiant skin. "Will you meet me here again in a few hours time?"
"Of course."
"Send my greetings to your sisters." He obviously knew she'd go to the Hak'tyl settlement while she waited for him.
She grinned at him, amused that he was willing to be so friendly to her tribe. Once upon a time he regarded them as beneath him. It would seem Teal'c was right. She'd found a way to reach a Jaffa like him and change his mind. Without combat. Gracie had no idea how she'd really done it. But ultimately, it didn't matter. What was more important was that they could finally spend some time together.
"When we meet again, I will show you something," he declared.
She squinted at him briefly. "What?"
Jasuf pecked her on the lips. "You will find out." He stepped back, smile never leaving his face.
She took that as the sign to leave. She heard, rather than saw, his brothers approaching. Her eyes were trained squarely on him, and him alone. She bit the inside of her cheek, regarding him with affectionate suspicion.
They exchanged one last smile before separating.
As Gracie took the path out of his village and toward hers, she sighed to herself. Seeing him again had gone even better than she imagined it would. And she'd get more later. The day couldn't be any better.
By the time she arrived, the cool air had gotten to her. She shivered beneath the cape she had now pulled fully around her shoulders. Gracie planned to find warmer furs among the community stockpile of clothes the Hak'tyl kept fresh. The colder months were here. She was certain they would have pulled the appropriate garb from storage by now.
As she approached the edge of the settlement, noise caught her attention from the side. She didn't raise her staff weapon. The sounds were harmless, playful even. "I can hear you, Agean," she called out. Gracie turned her head. "And Idul."
Two Hak'tyl stepped into view from the brush. They were smiling mischievously at her. The sounds she had heard were their girlish giggles. The young pair bowed in greeting. Gracie reciprocated. She adopted a haughty look in response to their humor. They paid her expression no mind and stepped closer.
"EldaMalDoran," Agean greeted.
"Teal'c said you were onworld," Idul reported with a grin. Her eyes twinkled.
"And yet she did not come to the Hak'tyl immediately," Agean noted with a glance to her sister beside her.
"Indeed not. There's only one other place she could have gone instead."
The naughtiness in their voices could not be denied. Gracie was being teased. Jaffa-style.
Gracie huffed with a look of exasperation. "Do you not have duties to attend to?"
"We are done," Agean reported. "You are our focus now." She grinned.
"How fares Jasuf?" Idul asked boldly.
Gracie feigned surprise. "And what makes you think I saw him?"
The Jaffa women giggled again.
"EldaMalDoran," Idul challenged, "you need not say any words. Your body betrays you."
The human blonde's mouth dropped open in mock offense. But in truth, she was entertained by them. These two Hak'tyl were some of her best friends from the tribe, in this timeline. Teal'c had warned her that everyone likely knew about Jasuf's affection for her. So she wasn't surprised that these two were taking the opportunity to torment her about it now.
Agean waved a hand in Gracie's direction dramatically. "See how her lips moisten and her cheeks redden. Or the way she stands straighter and pushes out her bosom."
Idul circled the human with a critical eye. She resembled a hunter stalking its prey in this moment. "I do see. And notice how despite the cold and her inappropriate dress, she shivers not from the air, but from the heat of his touch." She leaned in toward the human's ear and lowered her voice as she said it.
Gracie scoffed loudly.
The two Jaffa laughed heartily. They hooked arms with her and brought her fully into the settlement to greet the others. Nesa was there, warming her hands at one of the day fires. When she looked up, Gracie detected a trace of amusement in her otherwise neutral expression. It was the slight upturn of her mouth that gave it away.
"EldaMalDoran," she said. "You have returned."
Gracie extricated her arms from her two Jaffa tormentors and bowed appropriately to her once-den mother. "Nesa," she acknowledged with formality. Agean and Idul stayed close behind. She could feel them grinning still.
"I trust that these two Jaffa children have properly greeted you," the Hak'tyl said, eyeing the others.
Gracie didn't miss the dig at her sisters. They were all relatively the same age and hardly children. Nesa was calling them immature. She smirked, glancing behind to see if they felt any shame over Nesa's words. Regrettably, they seemed to have none. They were too entertained by her presence and the knowledge of her budding relationship with the Jaffa boy from the other tribe.
She huffed. "'Properly' may not be the best description." She pretended to be annoyed.
Nesa bore a rare smile of actual amusement now. "And how fares Jasuf, son of Meil'nor?"
Gracie's eyes shot to Nesa's. Even she was willing to tease her for this.
"Is there no other news that is more interesting!?" the human blonde complained.
Her Jaffa sisters alongside her laughed loudly. Nesa kept smiling. She stepped forward to lay a hand on Gracie's shoulder. "Answer the question." Her voice was laced with her own brand of mischief.
Gracie was actually flabbergasted now. One of her eyes twitched. "He sends the Hak'tyl warm greetings," she said plainly.
Nesa bared her teeth and even shuddered slightly as she laughed ever so slightly. "And we accept the greetings and offer them in return. You will bring the message along with you. I know you will go back."
Gracie inclined her head at the half-hearted order, nearly rolling her eyes. It was a standard among Jaffa to say hello from afar this way, letting travelers between tribes conveniently bear such messages. In the absence of advanced Goa'uld communication devices, this was the way Jaffa checked in on each other. They had a distaste for any technology that came from their former masters. The Jaffa kept galaxy-worthy tech in their possession, but refused to use it unless absolutely necessary.
"Go now. Find warmer furs and greet our other sisters," Nesa suggested. "Do not disturb the Den Mother for now."
Gracie glanced in the direction of Ishta's hut. The windows and doors were shut. She guessed that Teal'c was inside. When the pair of them arrived on Tek'ron through the gate, they each headed in separate directions. He was here for much the same reason as her: to visit with a significant other. Except his was quite nearly his wife while hers was… well… she wasn't quite sure what to call Jasuf.
Perhaps Ishta had been expecting Teal'c and arranged to have no obligations upon his arrival. Gracie surmised she'd have to discuss doing the same with Jasuf, so she wouldn't interrupt him every time she visited. She refused to get in the way of his important tasks. He had a tribe to run. She'd have to figure out a way to communicate with him ahead of time about these things.
She bowed to Nesa and let her Hak'tyl sisters lead her to the hut where they were keeping the warmer clothes. Gracie shuddered as she changed. The furs had grown cold just lying there in the hut. The Hak'tyl had access to technology that would warm their huts in the winter, but they hadn't felt the need to use them yet. Their resistance to cold was stronger than a human's. And again, the Jaffa tried not to depend on Goa'uld technology unless they truly needed it.
"Come, EldaMalDoran. Hot soup will warm you," Agean suggested.
After enjoying a soothing meal with her sisters… and suffering through yet more teasing from additional Hak'tyl… the time had come for Gracie to depart again. A few of them stood with her as she donned a long cape over her long sleeves and pants.
Idul rubbed her arms to warm her. "Do not fear, EldaMalDoran. Likely Jasuf will comfort you with his strong arms when you return to him."
Gracie looked up at the sky and laughed a little with exasperation. Idul was merciless. "Will I ever have peace?" she groused. Their other sisters cackled easily.
"Marry him. And maybe you will," Idul responded evilly.
Their sisters laughed even harder now. Gracie sighed. Loudly. But not without a huge smile on her face. She hugged her sisters goodbye and turned to go.
Gracie hadn't even stepped more than two paces when she heard, "Chel nok, Sister! He will be your sim'ka yet!" Oh Gods. Idul was wishing her luck to become engaged to Jasuf.
"What is the matter?" Jasuf asked her with a tentative smile.
"I was just eaten alive by girlish Hak'tyl."
He laughed, understanding what she meant. "Believe me, EldaMalDoran, I have endured the same with my brothers."
Gracie took a look around at his busy settlement. She spied a few Jaffa males looking in their direction. "How bad has it been?"
He leaned in. "Like I've been trapped on the moon of Sokar."
She gasped a little. He was talking about the Jaffa version of Hell. "That's bad."
"Indeed," he said with laughter in his tone. He looped an arm around hers. "Come, I have something to show you." He looked down at her new clothes as he led her away. "You have acquired appropriate attire, I see."
"It was made clear to me that I was underdressed earlier. My sisters took pity on me."
"How much interest did they show in your visit with me?" Jasuf asked curiously. They ventured away from the settlement into the forest beyond.
"Too much interest." He smiled amusedly at her as they walked.
Jasuf led her on a small hike toward a part of Tek'ron she had never explored before. They came upon a shimmering waterfall, raining down into a pond surrounded by rocks. Green moss carpeted the ground beyond. Pink flowers peeked up at varying intervals. The landscape was in a clearing, allowing the high sun to cast down on them and offer its warmth in the cold air. Gracie's eyes followed the path of the water further away, guessing that this stream would eventually join up with the great river they all used as a source of clean water.
Her eyes were wide as she took in the beautiful scenery. She quirked a smile and looked up to Jasuf.
"Do you like it?" he asked with anticipation.
"It's beautiful here."
Jasuf gently relieved her hands of her staff and set it down nearby. He let his own weapons rest next to it. Then he placed two hands on her arms to shift her toward the waterfall. Jasuf turned her to face him and stepped back. For a moment, he merely gazed at her in front of the surrounding landscape.
"What?"
"I am memorizing this scene. So I have something to think of when you are gone."
She blushed. He surprised her with how charming he could be.
He stepped forward and reached up to run his fingers through her hair. "Thank you. For coming back."
"I told you I would. I'm a woman of honor," she said, playfully tilting her head.
Jasuf leaned down to kiss her sweetly. She greedily accepted.
"Wait," Gracie paused. "Who else comes to this place?"
"Before today? Only me."
She looked at him dubiously.
"This is my place of solitude. I come here to train independently. Or when I need space from the tribe."
She pretended to huff. "Oh, Jasuf. You're going to have to find a new place of solitude. Now I'm going to want this all to myself," she teased.
He chuckled and leaned his forehead to hers. "I was hoping we could share."
She hooked her arms around his neck. "I'll need some convincing."
He captured her mouth with his, kissing her intensely. When they came up for air, he asked, "Have I convinced you enough?"
She bit her lip as she grinned.